E-Clips:- Business Pictorial - Minister's Move Not Too Common

Former Finance minister David Mwiraria, in his letter of resignation to President Mwai Kibaki, mentioned the word "integrity" three times. Twice in relation to himself and once with regard to the President and the Government.

Clearly he was making the point that his quitting the Cabinet was a matter of honour. He said: "As I step aside, my conscience is clear that I have served the Kenyan people with dedication and honesty and have not been party to any irregularity, criminal or unethical conduct." That will, of course, be a matter to be decided by the investigation into the former minister.

While it is not that strange for a Kenyan Cabinet minister to resign, it is unusual for such a well-connected and senior member of the Cabinet to quit as a result of external pressure and as a matter of principle. In his statement read out during a news conference he called yesterday afternoon, the North Imenti MP went to great length to stress that he was voluntarily stepping aside to enable investigations to go on in the hope that his name would be cleared.

Signalling that he wanted the whole affair of the Anglo-Leasing scandal put behind him as fast as possible, Mr Mwiraria stated: "I would, however, like to make a request that investigations be carried out expeditiously so that the truth and the facts of the matter can be established. This will spare me and my family the pain and agony of having to sit and watch as my integrity is unfairly put to question."

Mr Mwiraria's resignation from President Kibaki's Government yesterday was surprising mainly because of the former Finance minister's perceived closeness to the President. In Kenya such closeness to the apex of power has usually been enough to insulate the occupier of a Cabinet position from public accountability.

As Kenyans ponder whether Mr Mwiraria jumped or whether he was pushed, it is instructive to note that in independent Kenya's political history, only one other minister has resigned because of external pressure. This was during the height of the previous regime's intolerance in the run-up to the return of multiparty politics. In those days Cabinet ministers could get away with almost anything and often did. Mr Peter Okondo, had been Labour minister and was well-known for having what the media termed a "loose tongue", which meant that he often made utterances that landed him in trouble.

This time, he had made a threatening statement that turned prophetic even though subsequent investigations cleared him of any wrongdoing. In this incident, the minister had been in a verbal spat with a vocal, radical and popular clergyman, Bishop Alexander Muge.

Mr Okondo had warned the bishop not to dare set foot in Busia, the minister's political fiefdom, and had added that if the bishop did so, he would not leave the place alive. On August 14, 1990, the intrepid bishop defied the minister and visited the town only to die in a road accident on his way back home.

It has never been seriously claimed that Mr Okondo had anything to do with Bishop Muge's death. He had merely been politicking. After all, it was common for everyone in government to ban someone else in those days. However, when compelled by the public to resign over his tragically prophetic pronouncement, Mr Okondo did the honourable thing and resigned from the Cabinet, much to the chagrin of some of his Cabinet colleagues who were very much the type to brazen out this sort of thing. Another minister's credibility came under sustained attack in 2001 when, while serving in the Moi cabinet, he was accused of sexually assaulting a minor. He denied the accusations and despite the public outrage, stuck to his guns and his job.

Though the case was never proven as his accuser later switched her story, many people at the time were of the opinion that he should have stepped aside while the accusations were being investigated. More recently, until President Kibaki dropped him from the Cabinet, there were calls for the resignation of former Transport minister Chris Murungaru.

Dr Murungaru had been at the centre of negative publicity when the British government and later the US government, withdrew their visas and effectively banned the Kieni MP from visiting their countries. Though no reasons were given, the negative publicity to the Government was damaging. Dr Murungaru steadfastly refused to leave the Cabinet and it was only when after the Government lost the referendum on the Constitution in November that he was dropped.